In the western world, a suicide of
any kind leaves painful questions in its wake that beg to be
answered. Parents and friends may feel flooded with inadequacy
and blame. They may ignore those questions for a fear of
unearthing their own short-comings and responsibilities. It is
the opinion of the author that societies or cultures can react in
much the same way. When a member of a culture commits suicide, it
is not unlikely for that culture to collectively ignore the
incident for fear of harvesting any blame or responsibility for
the incident.

The purpose of this work is not to
suggest simplistic solutions. It is to discuss the topic of
police suicide in the context of police culture, and to raise
questions about the contemporary attitude of that culture towards
its members who take their own life. This work presumes to
suggest that while police culture produces very controlling
individuals who can become extremely cynical because of "The
Job", police culture does not adequately provide an
appropriate outlet for the natural emotional responses to the
extreme stresses of "The Job", either personally,
socially or professionally.

CULTURAL VIEWS OF
SUICIDE

Every culture has its own
contingency of traditions for dealing with suicide.

In Eastern cultures (Suicide[19]),
certain kinds of suicide have a distinct social texture to them.
The Japanese have practiced seppuku, the art of
self-disembowelment, for hundreds of years. For the Japanese,
seppuku is a viable method for avoiding any kind of dishonor, and
is accepted as a responsible way to deal with one's personal or
public failings. In India, many widows have for centuries engaged
in suttee, the practice of burning themselves on their husband's
funeral pyre as a public expression of grief.

In Western cultures[19], Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam specifically condemn any suicide as a
blasphemy to the will of God. It has been that way in recorded
history since the early middle ages, with criminal and social
penalties for anyone who attempts or commits suicide. Until 1823,
criminal and social penalties in much of the Western world were
as follows for those who committed suicide; 1) Burial on
consecrated ground prohibited, 2) Burial at a crossroads or at
least after dark, both with a stake through the heart, 3)
Possessions confiscated by the state.

MODERN U.S.
CULTURE

In modern U.S. culture, as in the
past, people kill themselves.

The suicide rate of the general
population in the United States is moderate in comparison with
other countries, at about 12 per 100,000. Suicide happens
frequently in all age, race, and economic groups. It does not
confine itself to gender or to belief system. Every segment of
U.S. culture is capable of producing individuals who will decide
to kill themselves.

However, certain groups are more
likely to commit suicide. Women make more nonfatal suicide
attempts than do men. Men are more likely to actually take their
own lives, because they use guns instead of pills
(Clarke-Stewart[1]). And, although people below the age of 25 are
more commonly thought of as the highest risk group for suicide,
this is only an affectation of media attention. The highest rates
of suicide are found among older adults [19].

In the United States, there are
still intense social and judicial penalties for suicide. The
historically assigned spiritual shame persists in many sectors of
our culture, and leaves its residue on others.

Stigma has also been a gift that
each generation passes to the next. Suicide is not considered
honorable. It is currently perceived as a sign of failure and
weakness. Those who attempt suicide and fail are remanded to the
custody and confinement of a mental health facility until they
are no longer determined to be a threat to themselves by two
staff doctors. It is commonly felt that those who attempt to take
their own life cannot have arrived at that decision reasonably or
logically. They must be mentally ill, and therefore in need of
supervisory care. No one in their right mind would want to
encourage their own death. They must also carry the stigma of
their failed attempt with them back into society. The
connotations for such an individual are all heavily negative.

THE POLICE CULTURE

Those who work in law enforcement
have their own training programs, their own protocols, and their
own sets of rules and regulations by which all conduct is ideally
governed. There is a chain of command and internal regulatory
bodies. They are distinguished further by uniforms, badges, and
department issue side-arms. These are some of the basic elements
that define the police culture.

The attitude of the police culture
towards suicide is reflected in the training it generally offers
to its officers on the subject. Generally, there is little and
often no occupational suicide training provided for police
officers. It is a subject that is almost unilaterally ignored.
Furthermore, studies on the subject are few and scattered. This
is related to the notion that "...police officers
traditionally subscribe to a myth of indestructibility, they view
suicide as particularly disgraceful to the victim officer and to
the profession," (Violanti[20]). This defines the police
culture's contingency for suicide: ignore it.

POLICE SUICIDE

The common belief in the command
echelon of Police culture is that police suicide is not an issue.
This is demonstrated clearly by the fact that almost no training
involving police suicide is given to recruits at any time. NYPD
Commissioner Raymond Kelly and Jacksonville Fla. Director W.C.
Brown agree that when police officers commit suicide, there is
rarely a direct tie to the job. Brown says that all suicides in
Jacksonville stemmed from domestic problems[7]. Additionally, the
Executive VP of the National Assn. of Chiefs of Police, Morton
Feldman, said that the association has not really been keeping
track of suicides as closely as deaths by other means (More[8]).

This is further demonstrated by an
NYC Police Foundation study (Scott[17]) that states specifically
"People kill themselves because they don't know how to solve
their problems". The study cites personal problems,
substance abuse, and depression as the direct causative factors
in suicide, not job stress. Since the aforementioned problems are
not job related, then they do not need to be addressed.

That study [17] was conducted by
an associate professor of social welfare at Columbia University.
What he lists as causative factors are not; they are problem
solving mechanisms. To the trained psychologist, personal
problems, substance abuse, and depression are symptoms indicative
of a greater problem. The esteemed professor is correct in
surmising that people kill themselves because they do not know
how to solve their problems, but that is not a deep enough
analysis. What do the self-destructive behaviors represent? What
has happened to make the individual feel so incredibly
disconsolate as to engage in self-destructive behavior, and,
ultimately, want to take their own life? That is the question
that must be addressed in incidences of police suicide.

The facts of police suicide, if
ignored by researchers and the police culture, will continue to
erode the fabric of the uniform. The 1994 data are as follows;

2) There were 137 documented
line-of-duty deaths among police officers in 1994, 75 (54.7%)
caused by shootings, a new record [2],[8].

3) To sum facts 1 & 2, more
than twice as many police officers committed suicide than were
killed in the line of duty in 1994. This is typical of the year
to year data [8].

4) 12 of the police suicides
occurred in New York City, which is a 40 year high for that PD
[18].

5) The Suicide rate for police
officers is double that of the general population [7].

6) Most departments will not
release or do keep statistical data on police officer suicides
[20].

7) Harley Stock, a screener for a
police department, states that about 90% of the time, an officer
is drinking heavily when he shoots himself [7].

8) 10% of the general population
who drink become alcoholics; for police it's 23% [7].

9) The suicide rate among
alcoholics is 270 per 100,000 (alcohol is a depressant).In a
recent study of 20 suicides in a large Midwestern PD, 13 of the
victims were alcohol abusers [7].

In the face of the above data, it
seems counterintuitive that police training should not include a
series of courses and exercises involving the topic of police
suicide. Officers of the law are twice as likely to put a gun to
their own heads as be killed by someone else, and yet they are
trained as if exactly the opposite were true. Again, this is
counterintuitive in light of the data.

CONTROL

Violanti[20] states that
"When officers lose the ability to cope in normal ways, they
may turn to an ultimate solution to relieve the pressure of
stress". Now, that's a bit of a statement. In fact, that's
what officers are trained to do. They are trained to use the
ultimate solution when the situation permits. It is even arguable
that officers are not trained in "normal" coping
mechanisms.

Control is a primary element of
police culture relevant to the question of suicide. Police
officers are trained to take control, and are controlling
individuals [7]. When they arrive at a situation, they are
trained to take charge and establish themselves as the regulatory
element. When a situation has deteriorated beyond their verbal
control, or they lose control because of some intervening
element, they are trained to take physical control. The final
solution to a situation that the officer cannot physically
control is their weapon (Hall[4]). The gun is control. The police
officer is trained to resolve a completely deteriorated
situation, one way or another, with their sidearm. The gun, or
even its presence on the officer's person, represents that
officer's ability to control his environment.

An officer is trained always to
maintain control of the situation, and the sidearm represents the
extreme that the officer is authorized use to achieve that
objective. With that responsibility comes intense stress.
"Almost unfailingly officers enter policing with high ideals
and a noble desire to help others. Over time, this sense of
idealism may transform into hard-core cynicism," [20]. The
job, in all of its parts, makes cynics of idealists, and that in
itself is incredibly stressful. So, over time, police culture can
create an individual trained in the use of deadly force to
maintain control, carrying a gun, who is stressed and cynical.

HOPELESSNESS

Hopelessness is the most
motivating contributor to the suicidal mind set [1]. It is the
sense that one does not have control over one's own behavior,
feelings, or circumstances. It is a resignation of the self to
perceived external elements. A feeling of hopelessness can be
perceived by an officer from innumerable sources. It is not
sudden. It grows slowly, unabated, until it becomes an
insurmountable mind set.

There is an unofficial progression
in "The Job" that police counselors have noted in many
cases of police suicide and attempted suicide. The idealistic
Academy graduate turns into a depressed cop;

"Graduate frequently
exposed to blood, gore, and danger. Does not unburden these
horrors on spouse. Spouse wouldn't understand. A few drinks with
the guys after work to help unwind. Fellow cops don't understand.
Can't trust civilians. Can't admit troubles, even to fellow cops;
would be considered a wimp. Can't trust fellow cops. Drinking
increases. Spouse takes off. Gun is handy," (Loh[7])

When a police officer commits
suicide, it is most certainly an expression of hopelessness
within the perspective defined by police culture.

Take for example the case of Capt.
Terrance Tunnock, of the NYPD. In July of 1994, he was 49 years
old, and married with children. A 28 year veteran in the police
department. One morning, while his family made breakfast for him
in the next room, he took out his service revolver and shot
himself in the head (Levitt[6]). In one article published on that
suicide and others, Chief of Personnel Michael Julian was quoted
as saying that this suicide could not be clearly traced to
problems at work. The same article reported that fellow officers
detected no signs of distress beforehand (NYPD[11]). In another
article published two weeks later, it was revealed that Tunnock
had one week before his suicide spoken to Federal authorities
about police corruption involving seized money and drugs. He had
just completed the task of informing on a 10 man rogue unit
operating within his department to Federal authorities
(NYPD[12]).

That case was not typical of
police suicides in the U.S. Tunnock had 28 years on the force,
and was the highest ranking police officer to commit suicide in
20 years. His case also involved corruption. And from all
accounts he had a good relationship with his family. None of
these elements are typical. There were, however, typical elements
involved, including the fact that he shot himself in the head
with his service weapon. There was also reason for perceived
hopelessness. Tunnock's hopelessness was likely twofold; feeling
responsibility for the corruption in his own department, and the
prospect of facing fellow officers after having turned in his own
officers. It is also likely that he felt professional shame from
the corruption, and being defined as an individual by a
"myth of indestructibility," was not able to face his
fellow officers or family. He was the Captain; he was supposed to
be in control of everything. His sense of self and control had
likely been torn from him by this circumstance. Although
atypical, Tunnock's case does demonstrate that even the most
seasoned veterans are not immune to hopelessness and subsequent
suicidal tendencies.

The idea to be understood here is
that hopelessness is a function of perspective, and that
perspective is defined by culture. It is not possible to separate
an individual's perspective from an individual's own culture. The
following section will explore other cases that demonstrate how
loss of control and persistent hopelessness contribute to suicide
within police culture.

PROFILES

The typical officer who commits
suicide is a white male, 35 years of age, working patrol,
separated or getting a divorce, who has recently experienced a
loss or disappointment [7]. As with any profile, these are not
hard and fast criteria. These are statistical tendencies. They
are a road map for prevention. The most important criteria,
or symptom, or red flag , of a suicidal disposition is marital
problems [7], [20].

Consider the following cases;

January 17, 1994

27 year old Joseph
Cibarelli. Seventeen months with the 46th (Bronx) Precinct of
the NYPD. After an evening of dining and discussing plans for
the future with his wife, he went home and shot himself in
the head. He used his off-duty revolver, a chrome-plated
S&W handed down from his father to his uncle and finally
to him. Fellow officers described him as a sensitive
individual who would "take personally things that
happened in the rough-and-tumble world that should not have
been taken that way," (Rashbaum[16]).

Joseph Cibarelli was young and
idealistic. He was married, and making plans for the future. He
came from a family with a history in the PD, and probably felt
the subsequent pressures of expectation. Off-duty, he carried the
symbol of his family's history with him; the shiny S&W
revolver. Other than his apparent relationship with his wife, he
seems to fit the suicidal profile reasonably well.

It is not established why Joseph
Cibarelli took his own life, but one evident possibility is
inferable from the statements made by his fellow officers.
Perhaps he did not feel that he fit in, and having his idealism
shattered every day by his job made it worse. Add to that the
pressure of his family's history and the subsequent expectation.
Perhaps he had feelings of inadequacy that were reinforced by the
"rough-and-tumble" comments or behavior of fellow
officers. With these elements in motion, it is not difficult to
see the recipe for a hopeless, suicidal mind-set being prepared
in this case. The only thing missing would be a recent loss or
disappointment.

May 20, 1994

Sgt. Ernest Hill. Seventeen
year veteran street cop from Elkhart, Indiana. After
unspecified medical problems forced him off the street, he
was put out working the front desk. After a week of working
the front desk, Sgt. Hill believed he was ready for street
duty once again, and phoned back to the chief, J.J. Ivory, to
discuss the matter. Hill suddenly hung up, and the chief went
out to talk with him in person. As the Chief approached, Sgt.
Hill pulled his service revolver and shot himself in the head
(Police[14]).

This officer was an older veteran.
However, he had every bit of control and power, related to his
career, his life, stripped from him. He was put behind a desk.
For an officer who spent his life working the streets and
commanding respect from those on his patrol and fellow officers,
the sudden change must have devastated his ego. When he learned
that he would not soon, or perhaps ever, return to the streets
that were the source of his control and sense of self, this was
obviously unbearable. He apparently believed that the situation
was hopeless and exercised control over the final thing that he
felt he could. He shot himself on-duty, in front of all of his
fellow officers.

There is a revenge/ anger element
in on-duty suicides that seems to beg further exploration and
study.

September 6, 1994

30 year old Dirk Kaiser.
Served one day with the NYPD. He graduated August 31 and
worked his very first shift on a Friday. On Saturday night he
was in custody, charged with drunk driving, and fleeing from
the scene of an accident. His 9mm service weapon was taken
from him, along with his badge. He was suspended. He shot
himself with a .38 to the chest on Tuesday, in his apartment.
He left a note that's contents were not disclosed (NYPD[12]).

Recent loss or disappointment. It
is likely that Kaiser felt that his career was over before it had
begun. His age range was near profile. There's not much room for
public speculation in the Kaiser case, but it does raise
questions about an officer's personal investment in his or her
career. Certain levels of intense investment cannot be healthy.
If Kaiser's life had so little value without being a cop, then
that speaks to a chronic self-esteem problem.

September 6, 1994

30 year old Steven Laski.
An eight year veteran. He was one of eleven patrolmen in his
precinct who were transferred to desk jobs the previous May
as a result of an ongoing corruption investigation. In April,
fourteen officers had been arrested from the same precinct on
drug, robbery, assault, and civil rights charges. Laski's
handgun and his badge were taken away. He was divorced and
living with his mother. He drove his blue Mustang to a
deserted street near a cemetery and shot himself in the mouth
with a .22 rifle. He died in civilian clothes [12].

Steven Laski lost everything in
his life that he had control over. First he lost his wife. Then
he had to move in with his mother, most likely for financial
reasons. Laski's personal life was at a low point. Then he lost
control over his work; reduced from a patrol officer with a badge
and gun and respect, to a desk job. Under suspicion of
corruption. The depression was likely gradual, and the perceived
hopelessness likely came upon him in stages with each successive
reduction in control. He couldn't talk with his fellow officers
because they were either involved in the corruption with him, or
not to be trusted. He couldn't reach out for help from his family
because again his secrets would be revealed. Laski had to keep up
the tough facade. He kept tough, drove a tough car, and let the
hopeless mind-set grow unabated.

Steven Laski wore the profile for
months before he acted out his suicidal fantasy. He had a place
picked out. He had a weapon picked out. He privately went away
from his mother and his desk job and killed himself in a secluded
area. From his point of view, he took control of a hopeless
situation.

November 16, 1994

31 year old Daniel
Atkinson. Seven years with the 84th Precinct in Brooklyn, New
York. Atkinson left early from work for his wife's birthday.
He got into an argument with her when he got home. Then he
shot himself in the head with his 9mm. He suffered from
financial problems. His wife had children from a previous
marriage. He had recently passed the sergeant's exam and was
on the list for promotion (Jamieson[5]).

Daniel Atkinson was fairly typical
of the profile. He was the right age range. He worked the bridge
handing out summonses, so he didn't see a lot of action, but he
been on the job seven years. He had financial problems, he
couldn't get evening overtime [5], and subsequently he had
marital problems. Atkinson also had a 9mm handgun with which he
was trained to solve his problems and take control. Confronted by
a succession of compounding marital and financial circumstances
that threatened his control, he exercised his training. In his
perceived financial and marital hopelessness, he took control
using the coping mechanisms he had been trained with.

Captain Dwyer, the Precinct's
commanding officer said, "I saw him every day. I've had no
problem with him. He's been a good officer,"[5].

December 26, 1994

26 year old Timothy Torres.
Three years on the force, Midtown South Precinct. An officer
on foot patrol. After a half-hour meal break with his partner
he took out his .38 service revolver and shot himself in the
head. It was 4:15 a.m. He was severely depressed about his
divorce six months previously. It was the morning after
Christmas. A few hours earlier, Torres had responded to a
report of an emotionally disturbed person in need of help.
"You've got a young man grieving over a divorce, missing
his ex-wife on Christmas, and, coupled with dealing with an
emotionally disturbed person just a few hours earlier, it
obviously was too much for him to take," a fellow
officer said. His father is a retired police detective. He
worked out at Gold's Gym to keep in shape. He killed himself
shortly before dawn (Forero & Forrest[3]).

The Torres case fits the suicidal
officer profile very well. In fact, Torres fit the profile for
about six months. He was on foot patrol, he saw normal people at
their worst on a regular basis, and he had recently lost his
marriage. Then came holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas;
loneliness and depression grew unabated. Then the pressures of
the job. Control was slipping. The job made him more cynical.
Things looked hopeless. Gun was handy.

Of the case, Mayor Rudolph
Giuliani said, "It is very difficult to accept something
like this in the middle of such a beautiful season. But
unfortunately sometimes during the holiday season these pressures
get even greater and greater for some people," (Pyle[15]).

February 20, 1988

James Earl McDonald. A
police Sergeant from Santa Ana, California. In April of 1986,
McDonald was demoted from Sergeant to Patrol Officer after an
accusation that he failed to submit a shooting incident
report and then compounded matters by lying about failing to
submit the report. He denied those accusations. After his
demotion, McDonald requested a 30 day disability leave. He
failed to return to work after his disability leave was up,
and was notified of his termination during a therapy session.
McDonald claimed that he didn't know his leave was up and
asked to be reinstated. That request was denied. In February
of 1988, McDonald abducted, handcuffed, and raped a 14 year
old girl in his riverside home. He had befriended her at a
scuba diving class where he was currently employed.
Immediately after the incident he drove into a small town in
the mountains and shot himself with a .38 revolver.
McDonald's first wife successfully sued the city of Santa Ana
for Workers' Compensation and was awarded the sum of $147,000
for the care of her two children. Her attorney, Seth Kelsey,
stated of the incident, "No one will ever be able to
dispute that the criminal act that that he did play a part
[in the suicide], but no one can dispute the humiliation he
suffered from being demoted and fired also played a part.
This is a tragic event for everybody, including the victim of
the rape and a loss of the father for the children
(Nalick[9])."

The individual here was not a
police officer when he committed suicide. However McDonald was on
the force and it has been agreed, by albeit prejudiced sources,
that his tenure was a compelling factor in his suicide. Despite
any misgivings, that agreement has cost the city of Santa Ana
$147,000.

McDonald's life seemed an exercise
in avoiding responsibility on all fronts. He performed his job as
a police officer poorly, avoiding that responsibility. He avoided
taking responsibility for performing his duty poorly. He filed
workman's compensation claims and took time off after he was
demoted. He seemed to use the system to keep himself from having
to take responsibility whenever he could.

McDonald's reason for committing
suicide would appear to be to escape the responsibility of crime
against the 14 year old girl. Her rape would have unavoidable
consequences. He had a year and a half to become despondent and
kill himself over losing his job as a cop, but did not do so. He
found other ways to regain control. When that exercise of control
took the form of rape, his situation became immediately hopeless.
That is, there was no hope of avoiding responsibility.

The author includes this case not
because it is an exemplar of the aforementioned profile of a
suicidal police officer. Clearly, the McDonald case does show how
recent loss or failure contribute to a suicidal mind set.
However, the case also raises the issue of using suicide as a
means for avoiding consequences and responsibility. That issue is
one of note and deserves further study.

CONCLUSION

Police officers are trained to be
in control, and to use their sidearm to maintain that control.
Police officers see people at their worst all day every day. They
become very cynical very quickly. They can become depressed, like
the rest of humanity. They can become hopeless, like the rest of
humanity. But when a police officer becomes depressed and
perceives hopelessness, he does not cease to be a police officer.
An officer is expected, by his culture, to endure. An officer is
expected not to talk about his problems or his concerns with his
spouse or with his fellow officers. He is expected to maintain a
surface immunity to his own humanness.

Police culture does not adequately
provide appropriate outlets for human responses to the extreme
emotional stresses of "The Job", either personally,
socially or professionally. Socially, anything other than
stoicism or drunkenness is seen as a sign of weakness by fellow
officers. At home, officers extend their stoicism. Their spouse
wouldn't understand, or they want to protect their spouse from
the harsh realities of their job. Or they simply lack the
interpersonal skill to talk about their emotions towards their
job with their spouse. Professionally, the upper echelon of
police command does not acknowledge that there is a problem,
despite the fact that twice as many officers commit suicide than
are killed in the line of duty. Consequently there are few, if
any, provisions in training dealing with the subject of police
suicide.

The above has the overall effect
of providing the psychological development for a socially
isolated individual. That kind of perception at work extends into
the home. It ruins marriages. The most common factor among those
police officers who commit suicide is relationship problems,
either divorce or constant arguing or take your pick. The result
of that is a depressed officer, who does not feel connected to
his personal world, who is unable to express his pain to those
around him every day, who does not feel as though his culture is
invested in him, and who carries a gun.

The problem appears to be that
police culture is inadequate to the task of caring for itself on
an emotional level. That has not been its function. The function
for police culture has been to protect and serve the citizens and
property of the United States. There is an emotional price to be
paid for individuals who take to that task, personally, socially,
and professionally. Until the police culture recognizes that
reality with heavy training, and learns to destigmatize the
expression of emotions through continued education, police
officers are going to keep killing themselves at a rate twice as
fast as the rest of us.